Night Calls
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: "Nothing fun around here. Not since I was grounded for life." ... "You'll be out of eternal grounding eventually." *Light RobxZatanna fluff.


**A/N: Just a result of my extreme fangirling. RobxZatanna is freaking ADORABLE.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

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><p><strong><span>Night Calls<span>**

Zatanna checked her door multiple times, making sure it was locked and putting a quick soundproof hex on it before dropping onto her bed and picking up her phone. Teenage girls, what could they do?

"Hello?" he asked as he held the phone up to his ear with one shoulder while trying to reconnect some cables to his tv after rerouting some of the security footage to his room due to increasing paranoia on so many levels. Moles, crazy clowns, always getting kidnapped. The mental wear and tear was enough to drive Grayson half mad. "That you?"

"Uh-huh." Just hearing his voice made her smile. She felt like such a girl sometimes, but something about Robin was... different. Of course, that was what everyone said, but how often was it true? Hers was an intelligent vigilante with the acrobatic skills to rival Olympic medalists. Yeah, he was different alright. "It's me."

"Hey, Zara," he said real quick with the name they'd come up with so she would know someone was within range; he'd heard Alfred's gentle footsteps padding past his door. "Yeah, that chemistry homework was killer last night. No, it's the tin swapping electrons with the xenon- And we're clear." He slipped from his awkward position of hanging on the wall with one hand shoved into the tv's innards and another handling the wiring he was pulling out. "Alfred." He kicked the wall and watched as the heavy door shut as if by magic. Dick smiled to himself before resuming his work. "Honestly, if Wally were here, he'd tell me how xenon really can't do anything because of a certain number of valence electrons... Yeah, good thing Alfred isn't that smart about science." The boy carefully began to patch up the tv again.

"You're lucky you can keep busy over there," she said, laying on her back and staring up at the ceiling that was covered in those plastic glow-in-the-dark stars that every kid wanted when they were five or six. Now they were just stars stuck on a ceiling. "Nothing fun around here. Not since I was grounded for life."

"Hey, don't say that," said Dick, shoving the final pieces back in before slipping the back on once more to shut the machine. "You'll be out of eternal grounding eventually." He paused. "Wait, lemme rephrase tha-"

"It doesn't matter anyways," she said with a gentle sigh, using a swipe of her fingers and a spell muttered in near silence to get the little stars above her to light up like the night sky. "I won't get to join the team because of my kidnapping."

He gave a slight chuckle and pushed off the wall, flipping backwards over the tv and landing on his feet like a cat. "You could probably blame Kaldur or Supes for that. They started it." He dropped his handful of tiny tools into a little box he kept close. In case he ever needed it. "Keep in mind that the team isn't always a democracy." He thought he heard Alfred's footsteps again. "Yeah, government was impossible today. I understand democracy, but it's the unitary system..." His trained ears lost the butler's soft shuffling. "Kaldur's word is law by leadership and no one dares question Superboy. It's common sense."

She smiled. Zatanna could easily see why this was considered a rule of the mind rather than words. Why would anyone confess that they didn't want to obey a clone that was born as a weapon for the enemy? "I can understand that," she laughed lightly, voice like the tune of chimes in the wind. "He could kill you."

How did she always just seem to be like that? He shoved the last of the clipped wires into a drawer that he kept all his random junk in. Ripped gum wrapper that looked like Chris O'Donnell, a few rare Pokemon cards, a handful of old pictures, and his stash of ancient video games. She was so simple, so easy-going. He liked it about her, he had to admit. "I'm pretty sure I can try to get you ungrounded. At least a little bit." He moved towards his own bed and collapsed on it, face getting buried in a pillow as his tired fingers wrapped around the phone, still holding it to his ear. "I _am _Batman's kid, don't forget."

"You can try if you want," she began a bit curtly, "but don't expect Batman to change my dad's mind. I get that he's the brilliant mastermind of the Justice League, that he's the World's Greatest Detective, and that his glare can kill, but that doesn't always change a father's mind."

A little pain tugged at his heart, but he forced a laugh and smiled to himself. "Speak for yourself. I have him wrapped around my finger." He looked to the door, half expecting Bruce to come in after overhearing this. The man seemed to have eyes and ears everywhere…

"Daddy's little girl," she reminded her friend almost playfully. "But you wouldn't know anything about that."

"Not at all." Grayson was pulling blankets all around him, making something a bit like a nest. Bruce had put him out of commission due to a big chemistry test in the morning. Richard needed a good grade, and Robin needed some rest. It worked out. "But I can relate. Momma's boy once upon a time." He couldn't fathom it, but he felt like he could tell her almost anything. He felt almost safe talking to her. Like he would Babs or Artemis. Someone he could trust. "She hardly ever let me out of her sight."

Zatanna did pick up on the past tense, but ignored it, trying not to press. She only knew that a man named Alfred lived in his house and that he lived in Gotham. That was as far as her knowledge of the Boy Wonder went. But some part of her thought that the more mysterious, the better. "Really? Because I'm pretty sure that's different. My dad is ridiculously overprotective."

"And mine isn't? We have security cameras, lasers, a guard dog, and motion sensors. Overprotective is an understatement at my house." House, manor, what was the difference? "It doesn't matter. Eventually, you'll get out of the house, get out of that eternal grounding, and wake up to start all over again in a new place all to yourself." He flipped the light off, planning to rest his eyes. Homework all afternoon after school all day and a few training runs with Conner and Wally after homework... Exhaustion ran through his veins like lead.

She curled herself into a ball, tucking her knees to her chest. "Starting over sounds good." She could maybe join the team once she wasn't trapped under her father's thumb.

"But really," he started, stifling a yawn, "I can vouch for you. I'll ask Batman-" He almost slipped "Bruce". "-to get you on the team. Maybe pin the blame on us, lighten up your prison sentence over there. Because, really, we _did _kidnap you." Robin couldn't help but smirk in the darkness. He was good enough that he'd only been grounded enough times so that he could count on one hand. "I'll see what I can do."

"You sound tired." It was a statement, a remark. They'd been talking most nights for weeks now. The two were almost as close as the boy was with a certain ginger speedster. "Should I let you sleep?" she asked, letting the light fade out of the plastic stars overhead. She looked out to the real stars and decided that her faux night sky was not enough to explain the real wonders of silver glimmers in the ocean of obsidian.

"I'm good," he said quickly, not wanting to lose her voice. Listening to her was some kind of inner peace for him, knowing that there was someone out there who could relate to most of his life that wasn't older than him and wasn't annoying. A yawn slipped his lips. The Boy Wonder wasn't sure how long he could keep his eyes open for, but he knew he wouldn't fall asleep on the phone. It was just unnatural.

"Sleep," she commanded softly with a half-laugh on the edge of her word. "I'll call you again tomorrow, I promise." Zatanna curled up in her own bed, tucking her lithe little body under a mountain of warm fleece blankets.

"Okay, okay," he responded, laughing gently while running a hand through his messy black hair. He felt his mind slowing down, thoughts draining from his head like water in a sink. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Night, Robin," she breathed into the phone, listening for his response while prepping in her mind the spell to repair her door to normal again.

"Night." His head was foggy and sluggish, sleep consuming him like the jaws of a hungry tigress. "Love you." It was like an automatic response that one would say to a family member before hanging up, instinctive, and then he hung up for the night, tossing his phone on his nightstand whilst properly wrapping himself up in a cocoon of warmth for the night.

It was a matter of minutes later when his baby blue eyes bolted open in the darkness, shining despite the ebony wings of night that had enveloped his room. "Did..." And his eyes drooped shut again. "Deal with it tomorrow." He was too tired for today. His mind was already clouded with sleep. Besides, maybe she wouldn't care. Or maybe she would care.

He stumbled upon slumber as his mind walked amongst those thoughts.

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><p><strong>AN: Review?**

**~Sky**


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